Investing Time to Save Time: The Secret to Making Your Life Easier
You probably started the year with ambitious goals—like most of us do. Maybe it was a new hobby, a fitness routine, or a skill you wanted to master. But by the end of January, most of those plans have already fallen apart. It’s not because you lacked motivation. More often than not, the reason we abandon goals—or sometimes don’t even start them—is the feeling that we don’t have the time.
Have you ever considered that investing a little time upfront could actually help you save even more time in the long run?
Whether your answer is yes or no, let’s understand how things work.
The first question is: Why do we drop things we care about? Between work, family, friends, and responsibilities, life feels like a never-ending list of tasks. When something new demands extra time—no matter how much we love it—it often gets pushed aside. But sometimes, what we’re letting go of isn’t just another task; it’s something that could bring us joy, fulfillment, or long-term benefits. In essence, we’re sacrificing long-term rewards for the comfort of short-term ease.
Let me share a Lesson in Efficiency I learned during a leadership training in my corporate days:
The story of the Master Woodcutter
It’s an old story about a young woodcutter who challenged his experienced master. Confident in his youth and strength, he chopped wood relentlessly, keeping an eye on the master and noticing him pausing often. At the end of the competition, the master had cut significantly more wood. Shocked, the young man asked how that was possible. The master replied, “First, I didn’t waste time watching you—I focused on my task. But more importantly, every time you thought I was resting, I was sharpening my ax. A sharper ax cuts faster and with less effort.”
There’s one first lesson here: don’t waste time watching what others are doing unless it’s to learn and grow. Vanity—or on the flip side, negative self-comparison—serves no one. But that’s a topic for another day... Let’s get back to time efficiency!
The lesson on time efficiency is clear: If you want to be more effective and regain time, sometimes you need to pause and refine your approach. Learning a more efficient way of doing things, optimizing your routines, or even taking care of your mental health and clarity can lead to massive time savings.
How Investing Time Pays Off:
Learning new things:
Taking the time to learn a better system or a new tool might feel like a delay or add pressure to your schedule, but in the long run, it will make you faster and more effective. Prioritizing what’s important—not just what’s urgent—ensures things run more smoothly. Think of it like maintaining your car: changing the tires on time, checking the oil level… It takes effort and even money, but imagine dealing with an unexpected breakdown or a flat tire on your way to an important meeting. Investing in preparation always pays off!
Setting Up Structures:
A well-planned schedule, an organized workspace, or a streamlined process can save you countless hours of frustration. One strategy that works well for me is writing down my activities and goals on post-its and sticking them on a wall making it easier to visualize connections, prioritize tasks, and identify synergies between different commitments. For example, I wanted to focus more on building strength to support my muscles and bones, especially now that I’m in my perimenopause era, lol. However, my schedule was already packed. After researching, I came across Dr. Mary Claire Haver’s advice on using a weighted vest while walking. Now, I wear one while walking my dog—incorporating a completely new habit without adding extra time to my daily routine!
Taking Care of Yourself:
Whether it’s therapy, coaching, or even a hobby that brings you joy, these investments in yourself will recharge your energy and boost your efficiency. And don't think just about mental health and happiness, there’s more. If your house is always messy and it drains you: have you considered hiring an Organization Coach? They don't just tidy up, a good one (like my friend Melina Kane) will help you set systems in place that work for you, integrating your rhythm and lifestyle, and will make sure that the improvements can be maintained.
Take action ▶️ Think about any area of your life where you feel stuck—something that drains your time and energy. Now, identify one small action you can take today to start improving it. It could be asking for help, researching a solution, or setting aside just 10 minutes to tackle it.
Small steps lead to big change!
Today’s lesson in 5 words:
MAKE TIME
TO SAVE TIME
That's the learning, as simple as that. If something is important to you, don’t abandon it just because it takes time. Instead, ask yourself: Is there a smarter way to fit it into my life? Could a little upfront investment make this easier in the long run? Or can I be more efficient in another area of my life to get the time I want to invest here?
Because when you learn to sharpen your ax, you won’t just save time—you’ll get better results with less effort. And keep in mind too, that sharpening the ax isn’t a one-time task—it’s something you need to do regularly to keep improving and staying efficient.
What’s something you’ve let go of, are thinking about dropping, or never started due to time constraints—but still matters to you? Think about it and take action!
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If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts on this post, feel free to contact me at coach@martafores.com.
